Sundance Film Fest: Opening Night & Queer Lounge

Showbiz meets snowbiz in Park City for the next week. Shut up and Sundance!

Tonight marks the kick-off of the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah... The opening night movie of the festival is the documentary Chicago 10, which is about the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, the protests surrounding it and the subsequent arrests of those involved. But it’s not just a musty doc; it’s crammed full of innovative animation and voice-over talent by the likes of Jeffrey Wright, Nick Nolte and Mark Ruffalo.

Over a week later the festival will close out with the final gala and the film, Life Support, which stars Queen Latifah as a former drug addict turned AIDS activist. It’s a story that director Nelson George based on his own sister’s life.



Queen Latifahs stars as an AIDS activist in "Life Support," which is the Closing Night film at Sundance.

Of course, between those two films, Lindsay Lohan is expected to come to town. She’s in Chapter 27, Jarrett Schaefer's movie portrait of John Lennon’s killer which also stars a heavy Jared Leto (Leto’s band, 30 Seconds to Mars will also play a gig in town). It’s gonna be, like, 15 degrees in town, so it’s likely that Ms. Lohan will be wearing undies. (Whew!) Plus, other stars like John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, Kate Beckinsale, Michael Douglas, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ryan Reynolds, Parker Posey, America Ferrara and Laura Linney have films to promote in the fest, too. So yes, as happens every January, the snowy scruffily upscale Utah town will go majorly Hollywood.



Jared Leto turns in a heavy performance in CHAPTER 27.



Gena Rowlands and Parker Posey hit the streets in Paris in BROKEN ENGLISH, a film by Zoe Cassevetes screening at Sundance this year.

And yep, there are LGBT-themed movies in the fest this year, from a true documentary about a British gangster (cleverly called A Very British Gangster), to tales of courageous Filipino lesbians (Tuli). And at Slamdance, a sort of punky younger sibling to Sundance that also takes place in Park City at the same time, you can catch a gay Lucha Libre wrestling superhero (in Super Amigos) or gay twins finding their way in modern-day San Francisco (Red Without Blue).



A Very British Gangster: One of these tough guys is gay. And a mobster!



In TULI, a Filipino woman refuses to marry because she's in love with her best female friend. Then she lays down in a stream?

I arrive in Park City tonight, and I’ll be blogging from there all week, bringing you photos, movie news, reviews, interviews and all the buzz that’s to be had.

To get you primed for our gay take on Sundance, I lobbed a few questions to the super-cool Ellen Huang, who’s the driving force between Sundance’s Queer Lounge, which is a haven for LGBT festival-goers. The Queer Lounge hosts parties, media panels, and is a great place to get free Wi-Fi or meet other media gays and spot celebs.

Anyway, I’ll let Ellen tell you about it! And stay tuned for lots of good Sundance dish in the days to come!

SUNDANCE 07


Interview with Queer Lounge head honcho Ellen Huang

What is the Queer Lounge and what's the role it plays at Sundance?
Queer Lounge is a hospitality and event space meant to be the "hub" for queer and queer-friendly festival-goers. I like to think of it as a cool, happening community center meets an informal filmmakers "market," where people exchange ideas, contacts, and create a professional networking and social environment. We have panels during the day, and in the evenings, we host private receptions and premiere parties. And, last but not least, we distribute a guide that highlights all of the queer-related films screening at the festivals.

Obviously, we fill a niche. We create an all-inclusive space whereas lots of lounges at Sundance are exclusive to VIPs and celebrity. John Cameron Mitchell dubbed us "old-school Sundance," pointing to an era before heavy corporatization of the festival. We're a grassroots, open, friendly environment for filmmakers and the industry.



Ellen Huang: She IS the Queer Lounge.

What are some cool events happening this year? What are you excited about?
I'm very excited to be partnering this year with our Presenting Sponsor OurChart.com, an online social networking space founded the producer and stars of The L Word. They’ll have a "room" just for them, they’ll be available to take pitches of short form ideas and films from filmmakers who come to the Lounge.

Also, this year, I'm very excited that among the nearly 40 LGBT-interest films programmed into Sundance and Slamdance (amazing amount of films!), several of them focus on religion and homosexuality. Save Me, starring Chad Allen, Robert Gant, Judith Light and the documentary For The Bible Tells Me So—which features Bishop Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop ordained by the Episcopal Church, and politician Richard Gephardt and his family. And another documentary, Protagonist, directed by Oscar-winner Jessica Yu, that features a character who is an "ex-gay." We're doing a panel on gays and religion, and we're throwing a post-screening party for For The Bible Tells Me So, too.



Chad Allen in SAVE ME.



Church folk in drag? A scene from FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO.

How do people use the Queer Lounge? What's a typical day?
People come into the Lounge to surf the net on our wi-fi or computer stations. Mostly people come in knowing that they'll run into their friends. It’s networking. We also have panels and meet-and-greet's this year with production companies and VIPs such as Chad Allen, Robert Gant, and Reichen Lemhkuhl. And the new hereTunes record label will be featuring their artists live and acoustic.

Who's the biggest star who you've seen in the Queer Lounge? Who got you the most excited?
I was very excited to see Toni Collette last year. I was nervous too, so all I could say to her was, "I bet you're tired." And she said yes. I was also really excited to meet screen legend Ruby Dee who was doing press junkets for her film last year in the Lounge. We talked about the history of discrimination and how that's shared between the African-American community and the gay community. And I loved meeting Armistead Maupin last year. He said that Queer Lounge was a "tranquil island in a sea of feral children." Finally, I loved seeing Naomi Watts dancing in the aisles of our David LaChapelle party a couple years ago.



Armistead Maupin and Ellen Huang chillin' in the Queer Lounge in 2006. Cute!



Scissor Sister Jake Shears (center), flanked by Alan Cumming (right) and Cumming's new hubby, Grant Shaffer in 2006.

What are 3 or 4 of the movies you're eager too see this year?
I am very eager to see For the Bible Tells Me So, Save Me, Tuli (which is from the filmmaker of The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveras) and A Very British Gangster about a real-life gay mobster in England. There're also a number of films by queer directors this year—Tommy O'Haver (American Crime), Gregg Araki (Smiley Face) and John August (The Nines)—that I'm really looking forward to seeing. I think Save Me is going to do well and not just within the LGBT community. It really is a film that humanizes everyone, including those who are viewed as being anti-gay. It comes from a place of understanding from everyone's viewpoint. I think Tuli will do well also. It looks absolutely beautiful.



Ryan Reynolds stars in THE NINES from queer director John August. Hurrah!

If you weren't in Park City from January 18-28, running the Queer Lounge, where would you like to be--and doing what?
I would be researching the next film festival, we some day hope to be at, South by Southwest in Austin, Texas and buying my plane ticket.

Check back here all this coming week for more Sundance news and festive festival bits. Staring tomorrow!